How to fix 4G64 lifter tick

Wes393 · Mar 7, 2011

My girlfriends 98 Spyder had a little tick coming from under the valve cover which got louder as it got colder outside. I searched for so long to find a good guide to fixing this with zero luck so i decided to just crack it open and fix it blind. Lucky for you I took pictures!

So first step: Take off the valve cover. duh. This is what it will look like.

PLACE RAGS INTO THE 7 HOLES LEADING TO THE CRANKCASE!
Then, undo the bolts holding the rocker shaft on.

Once you have the rockers off, flip them over. heres the little !@#$ that make all that noise! pull them all out. You should have 1 for every valve.

Now, check the valve stem ends for damage. If they're damaged use some sandpaper to smooth them out a little.

You can fix the adjusters in 2 ways.

1. Place a toothpick into the hole and press until the lash adjuster become "squishy". Squish the adjuster in carb cleaner and then just put them back in.

2. Buy all new "4G64 Lash Adjusters" from Ebay (Who's Ebay?) lmao

Ok, so now we replace the adjusters, clean or new, OPEN side in! use some wheel bearing grease around the adjusters to keep them from falling out during installation.

Now replace the shafts with OIL PORTS DOWN. The adjusters are hydraulic, they NEED oil to operate so its very important to replace the shaft with the tiny oil ports facing downward.

Oil ports on head:

Once the shafts are back on make sure everything lines up good and tighten the bolts to 30ft/lbs or at least evenly.

Now you can be cool like me and paint the valve cover!

Let the car idle for a good 30 min and your done!

Good Luck!

LSR Mike · Mar 11, 2011

Not quite how my manual says to do it. You should use wire instead if tooth picks, and diesel fuel instead of carb cleaner.

CrackedDSM · Mar 11, 2011

Other than this, great write-up. Thanks for posting!

SLEEPS · Mar 11, 2011

Good visual how to.

shott17 · Mar 11, 2011

Very nice. Thanks for posting this. Stickied.

shott17 · Mar 13, 2011

IIRC the usual tool of choice for bleeding lifters is a paper clip if you don't have a pick tool small enough. The disadvantage to using a tooth pick would obviously be it softening then breaking off inside of the lash adjuster. Im sure they say diesel due to its oil base VS. a carb cleaner. But I have used brake cleaner for this task myself with no ill effects. A manual offers a suggested way to do it, however that does not mean it is the only acceptable way.

firefighter5325 · May 1, 2011

Guys i need some help I just replaced my lifters following this tread. Well, I got in the car fired it up fired right up but had a mis.sfire I figured that since I just swaped in the lifters maybe they arnt doing just right yet and some valves arnt opening o something. the car has been idleing for about 45 min now the ticks are gone but still have a slight miss is this normal or did something go wrong with my swap?

It even will start idling normaly for a secound or so then back to missing

Wes393 · May 1, 2011

firefighter5325 said:
It even will start idling normaly for a secound or so then back to missing

Did you reconnect the PCV hose? It sounds like you have a vacuum leak. Check the PCV valve itself, make sure it has a good seal on the valve cover.

here's a pic of the PCV valve and hose:

firefighter5325 · May 1, 2011

Yep, that was the first thing I checked. However I may need to go pack and check at the intake side as I only checked the pcv valve and the upper portion of the hose. Soon as I head it I said yep forgot to connect the pcv hose. This does make me curious if a failed valve cover gasket could be the coulprite.

Wes393 · May 2, 2011

I'm not sure if a valve cover gasket can give a motor vacuum issues or not, so my first area of focus would be vacuum lines. If the car ran good and then idle's rough after you removed the cover, it was something that got tugged really good. You could always just go around the engine with a can of carb cleaner to find any leaks. Good luck.

LSR Mike · May 4, 2011

First, good writeup, just correcting some small variances from the factory manual. which can be found here

http://mmeierle.com/images/Max/1G - 4G61 4G63 4G64 1990-1992 ENGINE.pdf

The procedure for testing and cleaning the lifters starts on page 11C-67

Wes393 · May 7, 2011

Awesome, thanks for adding that.

If anyone has anything else to add, please do! I don't want to guide people in the wrong direction.

mopster_82 · May 29, 2011

would this concept work for 4G63 lifter tick as well??

Wes393 · May 29, 2011

Same concept as far as cleaning/replacing the adjusters. They tick when they get clogged, it's a common problem with DSM motors. Of course the adjusters are different and the process of removing them is different as well. There should be a 4g63 lifter tick thread, I might be wrong. If not I guess I'll make one

LSR Mike · Jun 14, 2011

The manual on my site is for 4G61, 4G63, and 4G64 engines, SOHC and DOHC, find the right section for your engine.

How to fix 4G64 lifter tick

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